Four local school leaders heading to national conference

Three board members and the superintendent of the Alamance-Burlington School System are traveling to California next month to attend the National School Boards annual conference.

The event is scheduled April 13-15 at the San Diego Convention Center. According to the conference’s website, 1,470 school districts sent representatives to the conference in 2010. The event is billed as the largest national gathering of elected officials and “offers an impressive collection of professional development opportunities for school board members.”

According to information supplied by officials with the Alamance-Burlington schools, sending the four local representatives will cost just under $9,000. The cost includes $895 per person registration fee, $540 per person airfare and $268 per person per night for lodging.

Those attending include Lillie Cox, superintendent of the Alamance-Burlington School System, and board members Jackie Cole, Dr. Kris Moffitt and Steve Van Pelt.

Cox said the money invested in the trip is well-spent.

“We get valuable information and come back and share it,” she said. “We learn from other districts all over the country. We need to hear from other districts. It’s important to get new information.”

Cox said lengths of stay will vary. She said she will be returning before April 15 because she had thought she was going to be attending a workshop of Alamance County commissioners that day to present the school board’s proposed budget. Cox announced at a board meeting held earlier this week that County Manager Craig Honeycutt has since informed her her presence at the workshop won’t be necessary.

Cox said every member of the school board is budgeted $2,800 each year to be used for professional development/continuing education. If all the money isn’t used in a single year, it can be carried over to the following year. Money for the trip to San Diego comes from those accounts.

Cox said this marks the first time in four years representatives from Alamance County have attended the national conference – the host city for which rotates between San Diego, Chicago, New Orleans and Orlando. Cox said no one from Alamance County has attended the national conference since she was named superintendent almost two years ago.

According to Tony Rose, school board chairman, board members are required by general statutes to complete 12 hours of training credit per year and also required to complete two hours of ethics training per election cycle. He said some board members may be using training they receive at the conference to fulfill those requirements.

Rose said he thought those who decided to attend the conference did so last fall. He said he opted not to go and completed his training closer to home. The UNC School of Government, for instance, offers classes at which board members might fulfill their education requirements.

“I’ve never been to the national conference and probably wouldn’t unless it was held locally,” Rose said.

But he said it is up to individual board members to decide if they want to attend.

“If the board members have money in their budgets and need the credits, I’m not going to criticize their choice,” Rose said.

Van Pelt said he attended the national conference in 2009, the last time it was held in San Diego.

“I think it’s important for board members to go to national and state conferences on a regular basis,” he said. “It gives you a feeling for what’s going on on the national level.”

Van Pelt said he tries to attend the state school board each year. That’s held in Greensboro.

But he said he gleans information at the national conference that’s not offered closer by.

“It’s very beneficial,” he said. “It makes you aware of the next big thing out there.”

Cole said she purposely saved part of her continuing education money from a year ago so she might attend the conference in San Diego. She said she attended the event in 2009.

“I think some us need to represent the school system and go hear things on a national level,” Cole said. “I personally found it very rewarding. I believe in the importance of continuing education on a local, state and national level.”

A call to Moffitt wasn’t immediately returned Wednesday afternoon.

Patsy Simpson, vice chairman of the Alamance-Burlington Board of Education, said she wasn’t aware of the planned California trip until a reporter informed her. She said both times she’s run for the board she promised not to attend out-of-state conferences if she could get the same training closer by. So Simpson said she wouldn’t consider traveling to California.

But she said she didn’t begrudge her fellow board members who opted to go.

“I believe we need to be as conservative as possible,” she said. “On the other hand, they get to spend the money as they choose.”

Simpson said she argued against allocating $2,800 per year per board member for professional development, and also argued against allowing board members the option to carry surpluses over from one year to the next. She said she felt a smaller amount would suffice for professional development, but said her cohorts out-voted her.

Simpson said she’s going to a law conference sponsored by the N.C. School Board in Carolina Beach in June.

“I plan to attend, so I can’t criticize them,” Simpson said of board members heading to San Diego.